Senate GOP: Gov’s action creates more chaos

Governor Paterson took an oath of office to uphold the state Constitution. By attempting to appoint a Lieutenant Governor, he is violating that oath and acting illegally and recklessly.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and many legal scholars have said the Governor’s actions are illegal and unconstitutional. The Governor is clearly putting his own political future ahead of the best interests of the public.

The Governor’s action does nothing to resolve the month-long gridlock caused by the Democrats refusal to acknowledge the leadership changes that took place on June 8th or their refusal to agree to a long-term, bipartisan Senate operating plan.

One thing the Governor will accomplish is that he will create even more chaos that will result in more lawsuits and more government gridlock. The Governor has said that he expects his decision to be challenged in court. He is right. I agree that the courts ought to expedite any legal challenge so that this does not distract from the effort to put in place a bipartisan operating plan that allows us to pass bills in a legal fashion.

The Governor has said that any legislation passed in special session can only be considered legal if the Assembly was also in session and passing the identical bills.

Richard Ravitch has no legal authority to preside over session and doing so only delays our ability to reach a long term resolution that allows us to get back to doing the people’s work.